When marketers evaluate all of the digital communication channels at their disposal, they’re faced with a rich array of choices including the latest in social and mobile marketing. Social media marketing includes participation on social networking Web sites such as: Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, video and photo sharing Web sites including YouTube and Flickr, blogging, microblogging, podcasts, forums, product reviews and social bookmarking websites. Like e-mail marketing, these channels help companies disseminate information to large audiences rapidly and cost-effectively.
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Put the Proper Spin on Web Marketing
from the South Bend Tribune
Internet marketing is accelerating at light speed, with the explosion of Facebook and other social media welcoming businesses into a virtual community of viral expansion and virtually old-fashioned relationships. Bulletin board-style Web sites are so last millennium, and even e-mail marketing appears so last year unless it's more honed and targeted to the recipient. More
SEM: A Call to Action
from Search Engine Watch
What's the most effective ad you've ever come across? Think about this for a second. Not the best ad, which might encompass creative masterpieces, three-minute epics, or jokes and sight gags that still have you laughing a week later. These certainly get and hold your attention. But the true measure of an ad is its effectiveness in selling a product, promoting a brand, or otherwise driving action.
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The Three Voices of E-mail
from ClickZ
You may not know it, but your e-mail marketing team and customer service reps are actually honorary members of your PR team. Are they ready for this role? They need to be, because whether you like it or not, every e-mail you send is being evaluated in three ways: as a service statement, a marketing message, and a PR statement about your company. More
Starting Your Social Media Strategy
from Smart Company
Any social media campaign needs to be developed as an extension of the core digital presence - your business Web site. Before considering any social media activities it's imperative that business owners ensure the basics are covered. More
The Inbox of the Not-so-distant Future
from MediaPost
For better or worse, the e-mail inbox is well on its way to becoming the nexus of all digital communications. Inboxes are also set to be able to do much more, reducing the need for subscribers to click through to take action. Future inboxes may also give consumers even more control over their e-mail streams beyond eliminating unwanted e-mail with a click of the "report spam" button. Here are some of the changes affecting inbox experiences.
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Engagement is Key for Rich Media Video Ads
from AdWeek
When it comes to rich media ads on the Internet that employ video, engagement matters enormously. Environment, not so much. That's the major and in some ways surprising takeaway from a new study conducted by VideoEgg and comScore. The study examined the effectiveness of rich media video ads vs. traditional banners. The goal was to prove the theory that banner ads containing video are more engaging. In addition, the study gauged whether site environment -- particularly contextual relevance -- played a role in how well such ads performed.
If you work in optimization, chances are you do both each day. But which do you find harder and what does that say about you? More
Facebook Tops Google for First Time
from the Detroit Free-Press
The online battle between search engines and social networks as aggregators of news and information hit a new milestone last week, with Facebook becoming the most-visited Web site in the U.S. -- topping search giant Google for the first time. Facebook accounted for 7.07 percent of Web visits for the week ending March 13, with Google accounting for 7.03 percent, according to Web analyst Hitwise.
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Entrepreneurs Question Value of Social Media
from The Wall Street Journal
Last year, social-media adoption by businesses with fewer than 100 employees doubled to 24 percent from 12 percent, says a survey released in January of 2,000 U.S. entrepreneurs from the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business and Network Solutions LLC, a Web-services provider in Herndon, Va. Meanwhile, a separate survey of 500 U.S. small-business owners from the same sponsors found that just 22 percent made a profit last year from promoting their firms on social media, while 53 percent said they broke even. What's more, 19 percent said they actually lost money due to their social-media initiatives.
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